IF events had turned out differently, Amy Winehouse and Madness may well have collaborated, Suggs revealed when we spoke last week. The Madness frontman was used to bumping into Amy around Camden. He said: “I was in the Dublin Castle once. At 3.30am, she came onstage, at which point I was sideways with drink. At the time the Sun was doing top 10 Camden caners and I shot up to number 1 – that took some doing beating Amy and Pete Doherty. I was defying gravity.” He added: “I saw her a week or two before she died. She walked past me and said ‘all right, nutty boy’. That was so her, I haven’t been called that since 1978. There was this kind of element that we might have done something together, she was fantastic.” Suggs also spoke about the support that band members can give each other and his concerns for other artists. He said: “We were friends from school, we had each other, but there were checks and balances. I joke about being bad but if people feel things getting out of hand we can talk to each other. You get this feeling of isolation. I saw that Amy documentary. I’m not blaming anyone, all those characters that died, it feels isolated, maybe there wasn’t anyone there. It’s a ruthless business. We stopped working for eight years because we didn’t want to. You’re young, naïve, so excited about getting a deal that it runs away from you, surrounded by people telling you to keep going.”

• After losing its original store in the most recent Camden Market fire, Camden Guitars celebrates the opening of its new shop in the Stables Market North Yard tomorrow (Friday) with a launch party, live music and refreshments from 3pm.

• Norfolk five-piece ToMacco (above) cook up lo-fi faze-rock vibes with a psychedelic twist. They play The Workshop, underneath The Roadtrip on Old Street tomorrow (Friday).

• Punk icon Kirk Brandon (above), the voice of Spear of Destiny, Theatre of Hate and Dead Men Walking, brings his Akoustik 2017 tour, accompanied by cellist Sam Sansbury, to The Islington on August 28.

• The Doctor’s Orders have teamed up with the Southbank Centre to bring a special edition of their History of Hip-Hop party to the Riverside Terrace Party at Southbank Centre on August 26 where DJs Spin Doctor, Mo Fingaz, CWD, Chris Read, Russ Ryan, DJ LoK, Ralphonze 90 and hosted by MC Pranksta, will play chronological sets tracking the history of hip-hop. Free entry.